In response to pressure from Kartini's polygamist father, she became the 4th wife of the mayor of Rembang. She let go of her own educational dream but he supported her in starting
a school for women. Unfortunately she died only 1 year later a few days after giving
birth to a son.
In 1964, President Soekarno named Kartini as an Indonesian
Heroine and declared her birthday as an Indonesia National Day. Source http://www.bali3000.com/article/Kartini.asp (more details).
On Tuesday as Ferry was taking me to the store, we
spotted a Kartini celebration with children in Indonesian dress so he
stopped to let me take photos (he knows I love to photograph kids).
Let me just say that it takes quite a bit of nerve to walk
into the middle of a Muslim celebration uninvited. There is no being subtle
about it. My presence couldn’t have been more obvious if I’d had “BULE” written
across my forehead in flashing lights. I didn’t know a single person there, didn’t
have children or grandchildren in the school and had no invitation or knowledge
of what was going on. I just showed up with my camera and got in the whole big
middle of it and started taking photos.
Though aware that many curious eyes had settled on me, I proceeded
to snap away. I fully expected to be asked to stop (or leave) any second. Sure
enough, within a minute or so, a Muslim lady came up to me and started questioning
me. I don’t recall a Muslim ever speaking to me in English, except for our
sponsor and driver, so that was a big surprise. After an exchange,
she apparently deemed me harmless and let me continue snapping.
A fashion show was just starting so I crouched in
front of the stage as long as my legs would allow. I wish I could have stayed
even longer, but as you can see I did manage to snap quite a few. Initially I was referring to the children's clothes as "costumes" (assuming they were from different Indonesian islands) but Ferry pointed out that they were just Muslim clothes. I had fun playing with some photo software so that is why each one looks a little different. Enjoy!
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